The Department of Defense is the agency charged with
managing the military might of the United States.
It was created in 1947 as the National Military Establishment
and was renamed in 1949. Today, the DoD is the recipient of
third largest share of federal spending, employs more people
than any other single organization in America, and manages
the most technologically advanced fighting forces
in the world.
On September 19, 1947 the National Security Act of 1947, passed in
July of that year, entered into law. Among its many provisions it established
a National Military Establishment comprising the Department of the Army, the
Department of the Navy, and a newly established Department of the Air Force and created the position of
Secretary of Defense to oversee the new organization. For the first time in
history America's military was managed under a unified command structure. To further
consolidate command functions and better integrate strategic planning the Act
was amended in 1949 to rename the NME as the Department of Defense, give it executive
authority, and strip the three service secretaries of their cabinet positions.
This overall structure of the American military has not been changed since.
Today's DoD is organized into three military departments, four armed services,
nine command areas, and 14 executive agencies. The individual military departments
are responsible for recruiting, training, and equipping the American armed forces while
operational command is provided by the nine unified commands. The various executive departments
provide support, research, and intelligence services to the rest of the DoD.
Military Departments
The Department of the Army manages the United States Army, a 500,000 member
force capable of deployments anywhere in the world under almost any imaginable
conditions. The modern Department of the Army descends from the original
United States War Department, founded in 1789 and renamed as part of
the National Security Act of 1947, something that caused no small amount of
consternation among members of the Army.
The Department of the Navy manages the United States Navy and United
States Marine Corps. The Navy has 370,000 active duty personnel stationed
ashore and afloat on hundreds of ships while the Marines comprise 170,000
military personnel. The Marines are the only of the American armed services
to have no civilian employees.
The Department of the Air Force manages the 350,000 members of the
United States Air Force. It was established in 1947 as part of the
overall restructuring of the American military. In addition to its
role in training pilots and flight crews it also runs the United States
Space Command.
All of the military departments are responsible primarily for producing
soldiers. They recruit, train, educate, and equip the military.
They also handle the administrative affairs involved with maintaining
a large number of people that like to do silly things such as eat--mundane
things like payroll, insurance, classes, housing, promotions, etc.
Unified Commands
While the individual departments manage the armed forces they do not
manage the operational forces of the US military. That is handled by
one of nine unified commands. Each of the unified commands has
responsibility for all forces in either a specific geographic region of the earth
or for a specific logistical area. The unified commands, and their
areas of responsibility, are:
- European Command - Europe, Africa, Israel, Lebanon, Syria, South Atlantic Ocean
- Central Command - Middle East (except Israel, Lebanon, and Syria), Western Asia
- Southern Command - South America, Central America, Caribbean
- Pacific Command - Asia, Alaska, Pacific Ocean (more than 50% of the earth's surface)
- Joint Forces Command - North Atlantic
- Northern Command - Homeland defense, Disaster Recovery
- Special Operations Command - counterterrorism, psyops, guerilla warfare
insurgency
- Transportation Command - transportation
- Strategic Command - nuclear capabilities, Space Command
Executive Agencies
The DoD also operates 14 executive agencies that handle a broad
range of tasks ranging from fundamental research to advanced
intelligence gathering. The executive agencies are:
Random DoD trivia
- The armed forces, administrative departments, executive agencies,
and other groups run by the DoD employ a total of 5.1 million people.
- 250,000 ground vehicles ranging from trucks to tanks
- 15,000 aircraft
- 1,000 oceangoing vessels (including submarines)
- Operates in 130 countries
- 2001 budget appropriation was more than $300 billion
Secretaries of Defense
- James V. Forrestal, Sep 17, 1947 - Mar 28, 1949
- Louis A. Johnson , Mar 28, 1949 - Sep 19, 1950
- George C. Marshall, Sep 21, 1950 - Sep 12, 1951
- Robert A. Lovett, Sep 17, 1951 - Jan 20, 1953
- Charles E. Wilson, Jan 28, 1953 - Oct 8, 1957
- Neil H. McElroy, Oct 9, 1957 - Dec 1, 1959
- Thomas S. Gates, Dec 2, 1959 - Jan 20, 1961
- Robert S. McNamara, Jan 21, 1961 - Feb 29, 1968
- Clark M. Clifford, Mar 1, 1968 - Jan 20, 1969
- Melvin R. Laird, Jan 22, 1969 - Jan 29, 1973
- Elliot L. Richardson, Jan 30, 1973 - May 24, 1973
- James R. Schlesinger, Jul 2, 1973 - Nov 19, 1975
- Donald H. Rumsfeld, Nov 20, 1975 - Jan 20, 1977
- Harold Brown, Jan 21, 1977 - Jan 20, 1981
- Caspar W. Weinberger, Jan 21, 1981 - Nov 23, 1987
- Frank C. Carlucci, Nov 23, 1987 - Jan 20, 1989
- Richard B. Cheney, Mar 21, 1989 - Jan 20, 1993
- Les Aspin, Jan 21, 1993 - Feb 3, 1994
- William J. Perry, Feb 3, 1994 - Jan 23, 1997
- William S. Cohen, Jan 24, 1997 - Jan 20, 2001
- Donald H. Rumsfeld, Jan 20, 2001 - Present
Sources:
http://www.defenselink.mil/pubs/dod101/oldest.html
http://www.defenselink.mil/pubs/dod101/largest.html
http://www.factmonster.com/ce6/history/A0857708.html
http://www.state.gov/www/about_state/history/intel/intro6.html